This invention relates to devices for use by handicapped individuals, and more particularly to a bed attachment and piece of furniture device for use by an arm amputee or other handicapped individual who has lost effective use of one or both arms.
More and more, society is recognizing that special accommodations and special devices have to be provided for helping the handicapped in most places and areas of human activity. The bedroom, as such a place and area, is no exception. In the bedroom of any home or place of abode, a bed is usually the biggest and the most important piece of furniture. A bench, a slipper chair or a chaise lounge, for sitting on while dressing or relaxing, are among the other common types of pieces of furniture found in the bedroom.
Webster's Third New International Dictionary defines a bed as a piece of furniture on which one may lie down or sleep, and as a place of marital sex relations. For the majority of people, these definitions are accurate and true in life. However, for an arm amputee or other handicapped individual who has lost effective use of one or both arms, the second definition is not accurate and not true in life. In fact, it is mostly and practically impossible. This is because one's use of a bed or bed-type piece of furniture as a place of marital sex relations, due to the nature of human anatomy, usually requires the full and effective use of one's arms for supporting one's body-weight to the side or from a prone or semi-prone position. Consequently, any arm amputee or other handicapped individual, who has lost effective use of one or both arms, is particularly and even more seriously handicapped in this area of human conduct. There is therefore a need to provide devices for helping such arm amputees and other handicapped individuals in this area.